DeSoto County School Board members heard multiple program and construction updates Oct. 14 as Superintendent Dr. Bennett described new partnerships, a Space Florida education initiative and a workforce housing effort; trustees unanimously approved routine agenda items and financial reports.

Dr. Bennett told the board the district recently received special facilities funding and expects First State Bank to pay off “about $2 million” remaining on a land purchase. “I think is a great thing for our community and our kids. If it saves 1 life, it's absolutely worth it,” he said while describing a voluntary, $20 screening fee that can be waived for families who cannot afford it.

The superintendent said the district will participate in the Jefferson Classical School of Florida at DeSoto County, noting “it will basically be the majority of those students will be students from outside of our district.” He said the school’s head is Bill Bennett (a separate individual identified as Ronald Reagan’s former secretary of education in the meeting), and that the program will give parents looking for classical education another option.

Dr. Bennett also described a memorandum of understanding with the YMCA to merge a local childcare program (“little boots”) into the YMCA operation. “What’s gonna happen, we’re gonna take little boots, and it’s gonna merge with YMCA, and they can give it long range sustainability,” he said, adding the partnership is intended to expand sustainable childcare for employees and families.

On workforce and vocational pathways, Dr. Bennett announced a new partnership with Space Florida. The district plans to pilot an AstroDogs space academy at SOTA Middle School starting with sixth grade and add one grade each year; he said the program will eventually extend into high school to connect students with aerospace and related trades. “We’ve met with the Space Florida people on October 1, and they indicated agriculture is a booming area for space of all things,” he said, noting vocational opportunities including construction trades.

Construction progress on the district’s new facility was highlighted during a presentation by Lauren Holland of Building Tomorrow Schools. Holland presented commemorative shovels to board members and urged trustees to visit the construction site, saying the project is ahead of typical schedules. “You are a shining star in the state of Florida for what’s happened with this project,” she said, and staff estimated that walls could begin to go up in the coming weeks and that a beam-signing ceremony might be planned in January.

The board was also reminded of a teacher and staff workforce-housing workshop scheduled for Oct. 28 at 9 a.m. at the annex; Dr. Bennett said the proposal under discussion would create roughly 72 workforce housing units prioritizing teachers and district employees, then first responders and health-care workers. He described the housing as “workforce housing,” not subsidized housing, intended to reduce long commutes for staff.

Dr. Bennett warned that the district will take a stricter approach to disorderly conduct at extracurricular events and said the board may request sheriff involvement in cases of disruptive behavior, citing Florida statute on disorderly conduct. “We’re not gonna tolerate it. We’re gonna have 0 tolerance for it moving forward,” he said.

Votes at a glance: The board adopted the superintendent’s agenda, approved minutes, approved financial reports, approved routine business and approved new business during the Oct. 14 meeting. Each motion was seconded and carried on an affirmative voice vote. (The meeting record shows “All in favor? Aye. Motion carries.” for each item.)

The board’s discussion period included expressions of support for the new programs and partnerships from multiple trustees, and several members praised the YMCA partnership, early-childhood programming and the district’s construction progress. The superintendent and presenters said next steps include finalizing the YMCA MOU, moving forward with Space Florida planning, continuing construction work, and hosting the Oct. 28 housing workshop.

Notes: The meeting transcript records the remaining balance on the land payoff as “2.1 or 2,000,000” in discussion; the article reports that amount as about $2 million to reflect that ambiguity. The transcript also records the statutory citation in garbled form; this article references Florida’s statute on disorderly conduct as cited by district staff in the meeting.